Pearl Island, Chapera & Mogo Mogo, Gulf of Panama
In 1513 the famous Spaniard Vasco Nunez de Balboa decided to make an expedition with over 400 men. They walked the dense jungle in search of another sea, where the natives wore gold and houses were decorated with pearls, where women were beautiful and where friendship prevailed. After walking more than 20 days, they found the South Sea, so named by Balboa. As Balboa reached the coast, the explorer dressed as a knight and honored King Ferdinand with a ceremony for the discovery of this sea.
Once they were established in this location they assembled a ship and sailed for the Bay of Panama. Afterwards, these conquistadores discovered a group of islands inhabited by friendly natives; indeed, men were dressed in gold and women wore pearls. Among the numerous islands and islets of this archipelago the biggest island was named the King Island. Soon after, the presence of numerous amounts of pearls originated in the name of this region as the Pearl Islands.
In the spirit of exploration, today those on board National Geographic Sea Lion decided to discover a new destination for our program. This time we went to Mogo Mogo and Chapera islands.
Our fleet of Zodiacs was the right choice to visit this couple of islands. Several species of birds were present: American oystercatcher, willet, a nesting yellow-crowned night heron, bare-throated tiger heron, magnificent frigatebird, brown pelicans, white egret, snowy egret, neotropical cormorant. In addition to these bird species, we witnessed bottlenose dolphins feeding near the surface as well as spotted eagle rays performing magnificent leaps out of the water.
During our early morning outings we located a beautiful beach with great shade and calm waters. We had two hours after our Zodiac cruises to enjoy this pristine location. This beach, on Mogo Mogo Island, was the idyllic setting where trees, mangroves and birds coexist in a tropical paradise in the beautiful country of Panama.
